Appendix D: designing a worker evidence file

Use the correct appendix

Appendix D now covers Worker and Temporary Worker sponsors. Student sponsor records belong under the Student guidance. Paper and electronic evidence are permitted, provided records can be produced when requested.

• Build a route-specific checklist before collecting documents.
• Group evidence under identity/status, recruitment, role/qualifications, pay, contact/attendance and sponsor activity.
• Record a document location, version, responsible person and review date.

Make a sample file tell one coherent story

Recommended practice: test whether a reviewer can reconcile the vacancy, CoS, permission, actual duties, hours, pay and work location without relying on oral explanations.

• Distinguish an absent document from a genuine not-applicable item; justify both.
• Link evidence rather than making uncontrolled duplicate copies.
• Use authorised internal case references in audit worksheets, with sensitive documents retained in the organisation’s secure system.

Suggested file-retrieval exercise

Give an authorised reviewer a case reference and a short set of questions: what role was sponsored, what work is being performed, what pay was approved and where is the supporting evidence? Time the retrieval and record inaccessible links, conflicting versions and information held only by a colleague. This tests whether the file works when its usual owner is unavailable.

Use the findings to improve the index. Each entry can show the document purpose, current location, relevant period, owner and any limitation. Keep an explicit note where a requirement has been reviewed and found inapplicable.

• Test access using the permissions of the person expected to respond.
• Compare selected evidence with the actual work and payroll records.
• Record missing evidence as an open finding with an owner.

Suggested evidence-quality checks

Presence alone is a weak measure. Check that the document is legible, relates to the correct person and entity, covers the relevant period and can be connected to the decision it supports. A certificate with an unexplained name difference or a contract superseded by an unfiled variation deserves further investigation.

Avoid creating a second uncontrolled case file inside an audit workbook. References should lead to the approved record system. When a file is corrected, retain a clear explanation of the correction so that later reviewers can understand how the evidence changed.

Fictional practice scenario

A fictional engineering company has every document ticked as present for a technician. A retrieval exercise finds that the job description predates a role change and the payroll extract covers a different period from the contract variation.

The team records two reconciliation questions and assigns the relevant owners. It does not replace the old documents with newly dated versions that conceal the history. The improved file explains both the original position and the subsequent review.